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State plans to cross-check sex offenders

By Colleen Quinn, State House News Service

Updated:
03/29/2013 09:22:02 AM EDT

BOSTON -- State early-education and public-safety officials plan to develop a joint plan to institute a statewide system where the addresses of all Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders are cross-checked against licensed child-care programs.

Unlike 17 other states, Massachusetts currently has no statutory or regulatory requirements for state child care agencies, such as the Department of Early Education and Care, to match registered-sex-offender addresses to licensed child-care providers' addresses, according to the report released Wednesday from State Auditor Suzanne Bump.

Bump and state lawmakers on Wednesday called on EEC to implement the address check in response to the audit that initially found 119 addresses of registered sex offenders matched locations of licensed child-care programs. In their response to the audit, EEC officials said they planned to implement a system.

Acting Commissioner Thomas Weber said EEC has been in touch with public-safety officials to start the process.

"We are going to be running regular cross references of our provider list, and those addresses against the sex-offender registry database, so we continue to monitor any occasions when children in the care of our providers may be coming in contact with registered sex offenders," Weber said Thursday.

Weber said the department is developing a new process.

"We are going to undertake this process, and we should undertake this process," he said. "It has not been required of us, but common sense tells us we should, and we will.

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The Boston Police Department routinely compares child-care provider addresses obtained from the EEC database to the addresses of registered Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders in their jurisdiction, and then contacts EEC to alert them to any matches, according to the auditor's report.

Lawmakers commended the move and the auditor's report that led to the changes.

Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry commended Bump for uncovering "deficiencies" in the early education system and touted legislation (H 387) she filed aimed at ensuring "safe, healthy and nurturing" family home care settings. Under her bill, licensors would be required to perform quarterly check-ins, without notice, to ensure that homes are in safe condition and that household members and frequent visitors are identified.

The state auditor's office, which was conducting a routine audit of the department, immediately alerted EEC officials about the 119 address matches. EEC officials then investigated and discovered 54 sex offenders' addresses overlapped with child care providers, according to EEC. An aide in Bump's office incorrectly stated Wednesday to the News Service that 119 sex offenders were living at the same addresses as child care programs.

Of the 119 initial address matches, 16 involved programs that were closed; 39 were addresses or programs located on community college campuses or places of employment where the identified sex offender was either attending school or working; and 10 had no match for licensed programs at any of the up to three addresses provided.

EEC revoked the licenses of four family child care providers, located in Leominster, Methuen, and two in Springfield. Those providers failed to report or disclose to EEC that a registered sex offender was, or had been living on the premises, according to EEC officials.

EEC officials on Thursday pointed out that at the four locations where licenses were revoked, none of the crimes the registered sex offenders were convicted of involved children.

"That does not make them any less of a concern," Weber said.

EEC officials believe no children were harmed at any of the locations investigated.

"With respect to the remaining 54 addresses, EEC was able to determine that in several instances, the child care provider and the registered sex offender resided in the same building but in different units and at different times," EEC officials responded in the auditor's report. "In these instances EEC directed the licensee to complete a safety plan for the children in care."

The audit compared the most recently reported home addresses of all Level 2 and Level 3 registered sex offenders to all licensed child care provider addresses from July 1, 2010 through Sept. 30, 2011.

"It is important to note that the addresses included in the Massachusetts SORB database are self-reported by offenders, and it is possible that some addresses listed in the SORB database may be inaccurate or out of date. Accordingly, although all necessary steps were taken to reasonably ensure the accuracy of our analysis, it is possible that some sex offenders many have been excluded from our match list," the report stated.

The 50 child care providers discovered to live in the same building, but different units than registered sex offenders were required to have safety plans in place, developed in conjunction with EEC, to ensure children have no contact and are not at risk, according to Weber.

A provider's license is not revoked if they have proximity to a registered sex offender, because people do not have control over who moves into their building, Weber said. People only can control who lives within their unit, he added.

"People are transient; circumstances change over time," Weber said. "Those people providing care to children who may live in proximity to a registered sex offender which is beyond their control, still need to make provisions to ensure that the children are safe."

According to the auditor's findings, the Department of Early Education and Care also failed to do annual unannounced visits at residential child care facilities, which they are required to do by law. Many states require two unannounced visits per year, according to Bump's office.

The auditor also found EEC was not enforcing Criminal Offender Record Information check requirements, and failed to ensure licensed child care providers performed the required CORI checks on their staff when they were hired, as well as rechecked every three years. Out of a sampling of 39 group child care providers, 10 percent were missing CORI checks or had outdated checks.

In the wake of a revelation that 119 sex offenders had addresses matching those of day care centers across the state, a Chelmsford advocate for children says it is "stunning'' that a top agency in charge of the care and protection of children is not taking advantage of public information to keep children safe.

"It's time for Massachusetts to step up and make the safety of children its top priority,'' Community Voices Founder Laurie Myers said in reaction to an audit of the Department of Early Education and Care released Wednesday by state Auditor Suzanne Bump.

The audit showed that 119 licensed child care facility were found to have common addresses that were listed to level 2 and level 3 sex offenders. It also showed that the agency failed to perform any unannounced inspections of home-based child care centers in the past year.

"No parent who drops their child off at day care should have to worry about the public safety of their son or daughter,'' Bump said in a statement.

According to the audit four facilities -- one in Methuen, one in Leominster and two in Springfield -- had their licenses revoked for knowingly allowing an offender in the same location as a child care facility.

"This information is disturbing to say the least,'' Myers said.

Community Voices is calling on the Department of Early Education and Care to do the following:

* To make available the names and address of the four formerly licensed child care facility who had their licenses revoked as a result of the audit;

* The state Legislature should pass legislation that would make all sex offender information, including level 1 and level 2 sex offenders, publicly available and to comply with the federal Adam Walsh Act.

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